


So Honey, Sing

by IGOM



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Post Gronder Field, Rated teen because Felix has a dirty mouth, Spoilers for VW, Verdant Wind route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29037339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IGOM/pseuds/IGOM
Summary: After the Battle of Gronder Field, Annette hasn't been heard singing. Claude and Byleth volunteer Felix to talk to her about what happened.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	So Honey, Sing

**Author's Note:**

> Fic inspired by and title taken from the Hozier song "To Noise Making (Sing)."

_Why do I have to be the one to talk to Annette?_ Felix stomped through the monastery in his search for the woman; if it had only been Claude asking, he would have told the man exactly where to stick his stupid idea, but when the professor nodded and said softly, "I think she'd respond best if it were you, Felix," he had no choice but to agree.

He wasn't good at these things; Claude was better suited to these kinds of talks, even if he wasn't entirely sincere in his empathetic gestures toward their comrades, at least he knew what to say, and Felix had none of that polish. Byleth was the same as Felix, unable to articulate thoughts and feelings well, but everyone gravitated toward the professor and that calm demeanor regardless.

The trouble started with Gronder Field. They had won by a thread; but even after Claude and the professor snuck around and forced a retreat from Edelgard, the boar continued to press them from the west until Felix forced him to retreat as well.

 _But he hadn't._ Instead, he'd circled south; damn Dimitri for continuing to pursue the Emperor after all sides were in retreat; in the end, he was nothing more than the animal Felix knew him to be, and he died like an animal. Still, Felix felt himself choke when Hilda described it, bile thick and burning in the back of his throat. And then some _idiot_ had to mention that fool Gustave carried the body of their prince off the field in front of Annette. She had smiled after a moment's pause, a brave face, and then excused herself from the council shortly after.

Since then, no one had heard Annette sing. The monastery and the grounds were bereft of her silly songs, her humming to herself as she studied a new incantation in the library. She had even stopped going to the cathedral to sing hymns, which is why Felix was now wandering the monastery looking for her, as this change alarmed Byleth so much that Claude had gotten involved, who promptly turned the problem into Felix's to solve.

At last, he found her in one of the gardens outside the dining hall. There were cakes and tea, but Annette was alone. Before she spied him, he caught a glance at her face; sorrow didn't even begin to describe the pain Felix saw, quickly masked with a smile when she caught him lurking behind the hedge. "Felix, you scared me."

"I didn't mean to." He paused. "Can I join you?"

"Sure." He settled himself on a chair beside her. "It's a nice day."

He followed her gaze skyward. "It's not raining, so it's a good day for training."

"Is that all you think about, Felix?"

He shrugged, watching her face; a frown didn't suit her at all. "I'm a soldier, what else is there?"

Annette's hands balled into fists, clutching her skirt; maybe that was the wrong thing to say. "What is it about Faerghus that makes people think that way?"

Definitely a mistake. "I don't know." He wasn't particularly attached to the boar prince or Claude or anyone, especially not in the suicidal way that his old man and hers seemed to find necessary; hell, if it weren't for the professor, Felix would have never stuck around in Claude's little army.

He heard a hitch in her breath, and looked; oh, no. _Goddess damn that Dominic bastard._ She covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry, Felix, I just-" Another sob, and she stopped.

Felix hesitated a moment, and then he reached over and patted her arm. This made her cry more, a development that baffled him, and then he found himself with arms full of bawling Annette. She clung to his shoulders, face pressed against his chest guard. He wasn't sure what to do, but he didn't want to slide off his lap onto the ground, so he pulled her closer. 

They sat like that for a long time until she was quiet and stopped snuffling into Felix's jacket. A handkerchief appeared, embroidered with forget-me-nots on one edge. Annette blew her nose. "I'm sorry. That was embarrassing."

"It's fine." He ought to say something, anything. "Everyone's been worried."

She laughed a little, her face turning even more red than before. "Even you, Felix?"

He wondered at her tone, the soft uptick at the end; it made him nervous. "Yes. No one has heard you sing since-" _Damn it, wrong again._

But it wasn't. Annette smiled, even if it was a bit dim, and she leaned against him, her head nestled against his shoulder. "Will you sing with me?"

"All right." _Anything so you can sing again._

**Author's Note:**

> "Who could ask you to be unbroken or be brave again?  
> Or honey, hope even on this side of the grave again?  
> And who could could ask you to be sound or to feel safe again?  
> Well stick around until you hear that music play again.
> 
> So honey, sing."


End file.
